Ron Paul Wins Washington, On Track to Be Nominated at 2012 GOP Convention

The Ron Paul “delegate strategy” seems to be working. And he could very well be nominated at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in late summer.

Wow. Twist.

[…] Until recently, this strategy had shown only limited results: the ground-level Paul delegates had not been able to immediately influence the wider state delegate situation. Now, though, caucus states like Washington, Minnesota, and Iowa — each with a complicated system of “bound” and “unbound” delegates — are nominating their delegates to the GOP national convention in Tampa. And the Paul ground game is starting to work, but with some institutional backlash.

Here’s a micro-level example: In Washington over the weekend, Republicans in the 37th Legislative District gathered to vote on their delegates. The meeting saw Ron Paul supporters elect one of their own to chair the process. A Republican Party chairman, though, refused to accept the Paul-supporting chairperson, and ended the meeting, declaring that the meeting was no longer a Republican Party event, but rather a Ron Paul campaign event.

[…]

Paul loyalists, of course, still harbor hope for getting their man nominated at the national convention in Tampa in late August. In order to do that, Paul must have a majority of support from at least five state delegations. With states like North Dakota, Minnesota, Maine, and others on track, his supporters could then attempt to nominate him from the floor.